User blog:ME7/The Problem With Assists and Tilt A
Assists teach you wrong driving. You'll know this when you first turn them all off. You feel like your driving on ice. Your car will be all over the track and you will crash at almost every corner. What's worse is some assists work together to make things worse. Then Tilt A adds another level of trouble. Example: Brake Assist on low will sometimes brake too late going into a corner, then you slide. So Traction Control kicks in to correct that slide, now you've overbraked and lost time. Sometimes it brakes so late that you slide right off track. Tilt A helps here to make sure you go WAAAAAAAAY off-track. Now Steering Assist AND TC will fight you as you try to get back on track, wasting all sorts of time. Steering Assist will make you drive almost beside the track instead of getting back on it ASAP. Traction Control will kick back in when you slide while driving off track. It can be a nightmare! Since I first met this blog I have created a video where I show you why assists won't work in certain situations such as endless endurance races. Following is my take on each assist and it's problems. I then get into how Tilt A can add to the problem. Next I give some advice on the transition strategy to non-assist driving. Finally, I cover some exceptions where assists and Tilt A can help. Traction Control (aka TC):''' It brakes in places where you don't even need brakes. Usually it comes on because you drove into a corner too fast or put on the brakes too late. This makes you slower. '''Brake Assist (aka BA):' Both settings teach you bad habits. *'High brakes too early, brakes WAY too often, stays on too long and even brakes when no brakes are required. This wastes time and speed. *'Low' brakes too late. This then makes your TC kick in and/or you go flying off-track. It also will brake in some places where you don't need any brakes. This wastes time and speed. Steering Assist (aka SA):' *'Both settings limit your race line!' Take the first 4 corners of Nurburgring GP or Sprint Circuit. SA will try and make you take more of the middle line through those 1st 4 corners of lap 1, just like the bots. So turning off SA lets you take the low line and pass many of them. Same with many tracks. SA will try and force you into a certain line at the start. Every subsequent lap is fine. *'It KILLS your time when you go off-track!''' Slide off-track by accident and SA will make you run somewhat parallel to the track as you try to get back on. This wastes precious time. It will let you drive differently if you are ''REALLY'' off-track, but it will snap you parallel as you near the track. *'''What if you want to go off-track on purpose for cuts?? It will fight you and twist you around. It is trying to help you steer as the track is designed... too limiting for the most part *'Exceptions': Indy Speedway & Daytona Speedway. I always run SA high here. You need VERY nimble movements when navigating those corners at maximum speed. SA high seems to give a slight virtual boost to grip. It doesn't really, but it feels that way. What it does is that is smooths out your movements a little. Watch my Indy Endurance video in the P1 GTR (below) and you'll see what I mean. Some top Time Trial racers also use it. That makes sense when there's no off-track allowed and no bots to pass. However it will ruin some tracks, like the bus-stop section of Porsche Test track. Tilt A problems:''' *Tilt A is either 100% gas or 100% brakes. In real racing, they feather the throttle for control in the corners a lot. We are taught in basic driving what to do when we lose control and skid... put the car in neutral. Both gas & brakes will usually prolong the out-of-control skid. *When I run Tilt A and I lose it, I just keep sliding into the wall or off-track. When I run Tilt B I lift to coast, slightly steer ''INTO'' the skid and regain control fast. Watch my Endurance races at Porsche Short Track (Below) and you will quickly see what I mean. When I lose control off-track, I lift until I regain it. I also feather a lot in the corners. '''Tilt A with Assists is the worst! *Picture the following scenario. You drive into a corner and BA brakes too late. TC comes on to correct your skid. Both TC and BA then go off, but you are still 100% gas... so TC comes on again! On big wide corners, it just keeps going on and off. Brake at the right time, feather the gas until you can get full throttle and you will be further ahead. Tilt B advantages:''' *The option to coast, no gas or brakes. *The ability to feather the gas. *Virtual Tilt A ability. When you press gas and brakes at the same time, you just get gas. You will notice in my videos that both pedals are on as I near most corners. As soon as I lift off the gas, the brakes apply. This also helps me not to drop my phone when switching thumbs! Then I lift off the brakes and feather back into the gas, or floor it. '''The transition: *Switch to Tilt B first and get used to it. *Then turn off TC & BA. Both really hurt you. BA low could be kept on as a safety net, but it will brake sometimes when you don't need brakes. Hockenheimring GP & National are great examples. There are 1 or 2 corners that you can drive flat out in almost every car, but BA will apply the brakes. I say 1 or 2 as it depends on the car. Some cars will brake 3 times at Hockenheimring GP with BA low when you can run it flat out! *Take it one track at a time. Once you learn all the points on one track, your set. A lot of cars will have the same points. For some you will have to brake a little earlier or later. For some corners in great cars, you don't have to brake at all! Learn the braking points there, then go on to the next track. *I started by turning off assists when I had a BIG lead, this is a good start. If you mess up, just turn them back on again by pausing and going into settings. *When you turn off SA, remember to increase your steering sensitivity by 3. So if you run 5, go up to 8. Slowly work your way down if you want to. When I first went no assists I ran steering on 10! I've slowly lowered it for smoother handling. Now I run 2 or 3, except for F1 cars where I run 0. **'NOTE:' Steering sensitivity is a personal thing. Try a few setting to see how it works for you. Find a sweet spot and go from there. There's no right answer with sensitivity settings, just suggestions. I expect that the device and operating system also effect sensitivity since it's based on physical hardware (gyroscope) and also software outside of the game. Tilt A Exceptions:' *'Long farming races! '''I sometimes use Tilt A at Porsche Short Track when logging 100's of laps. It's just nice to rest my thumbs. I do get more out of control and crash more often. Tilt A is bad off-track. If you get really sideways... you'll stay that way until you hit a wall! It's also slower, so my fame/lap drops. Once my timer hits 50 I switch back to Tilt B and fill it up. *"Auto Pilot" farming''' is another good place for it. This is when you put all assists on high, Tilt A and let the car drive itself. only useful for a few team events as a 1-man team. The fame amount is horrible because you almost always come last. Your car will drive all around Melbourne by itself as well as Daytona and Indy speedways. Videos: Category:Blog posts